Partial Eclipse of the last Blue Moon of 2009

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Partial Eclipse of the Blue Moon

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uploaded by kevlewis

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  uploaded by kevlewis | add comment

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  uploaded by Kati Garner | add comment

The eclipse marks the second full moon of December, thereby claiming the title of a “blue moon.”

Since it is a partial eclipse, the moon will just brush past the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, never becoming totally immersed. It will, however, be deep enough into the shadow that shading and reddish color should be visible.

For the eclipse, the duration of the partial phase lasted within two seconds of a hour long, while the penumbral duration from beginning to end ran about four hours and eleven minutes. Penumbral contact  began at 17:17:08 UT and umbral contact at 18:52:43 UT. The moment of greatest depth of shadow occured at 19:22:39 UT, 31 December 2009.

all times are UTC (GMT)